The Campaign

We reconnected riders with Uber via data visualisation of their riding patterns, creating simple yet personal story about how they moved through 2016. We visualised 1,020 contextual data points, from locations and trip-lengths to city-specific references. We overlaid this data with contextual and local cultural nuances for events like Ramadan, Chinese New Year and Formula One Grand Prix - turning mundane details into an engaging narative. Each rider’s look at 2016 ends with a personalised calling card and 'Rider type' for them to share on social media.

Creative Execution

Given the pilot nature of the campaign, we started small, targeting five cities. Using WebGL we made sure the most relevant and interesting facts for each rider were pulled from the 1,020 data points on the fly, making each rider’s experience uniquely personal. Dynamically-generated graphics further enriched the mobile-led experience. The experience ends with a dynamically-generated calling card, made unique to the rider. Each personalised calling card showcases their ‘Rider type’ and other interesting bits of data aimed at making riders more likely to share. We drew largely on our owned media channels to drive traffic to the site: Existing riders’ email database, social platforms (Facebook, Twitter) and in-app feed cards. Shared social posts were key in organically spreading the word. It was the ride-hailing industry’s first-of-its-kind project, and was successfully turned around in just 8 weeks.

Results

What started out as a pilot in 5 cities garnered interest across 195 countries. It gained traction in media, earning coverage across 48 publications, resulting in 525M earned PR impressions. #yearwithuber also top-trended on Twitter for 19 hours without spend. Engagement was strong. In the first week, we saw 974,849 site visits - 75% were accessed through mobile devices. Over 16,000 custom were visualisations shared socially, resulting in 4,096,839 Earned Social Impressions. 115,296 individual experiences were completed in the first 4 weeks, with an average dwell time of 1.08 minutes. The response was positive. 55% of users said they intend to ride more frequently. Many voiced their love and enthusiasm online: “The Night Rider! wtf Uber even knows my days better than my ex(es) #yearwithuber” “Thank you @Uber for always getting me home safe #yearwithuber” “Uber, you’re an inspiration in data storytelling used for customer delight #yearwithuber”

Driven by data, the campaign was designed to foster more personal interaction with Uber, eliciting more positive feelings towards the brand. And it was mobile-led, reflective of the Uber app itself. Year With Uber succeded in engaging people in a meaningful way. Through the creative use of data, we were able to tell a personalised story about each rider’s journey with Uber with a positive sentiment that made it highly sharable via social media.

We launched the pilot in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok. These cities are cultural centres of the region where Uber has good market penetration. More importantly, all five have a highly commoditised perception of Uber. While we set out to target all Uber riders, we focused on power riders; those who made multiple trips throughout the year due to their high value to the business. To really engage in a conversation with our riders, we knew we had to make the conversation about them. And the most personal way to achieve that was through looking at their data and trips with Uber. Knowing that the majority of our riders would access Year With Uber from their mobile phones, and on limited prepaid data packages, we worked hard to keep the experience light and sleek so data bandwidth for our riders was minimised without reducing the entertaining immersive experience.